Newly-crowned English Champion Gary Lockerbie and runner-up Michael Skelton have been named in the 11-strong England squad for the Home Internationals at Ballybunion on September 17-19.

Newly-crowned English Champion Gary Lockerbie and runner-up Michael Skelton have been named in the 11-strong England squad for the Home Internationals at Ballybunion on September 17-19.

Penrith's 20-year-old Lockerbie and 19-year-old Skelton, from the Middlesbrough club, were in supreme form throughout the English Championship at Alwoodley last week, with Lockerbie coming out on top 6 and 5 in the final.

The pair are among four new caps in the England line-up, the others being James Heath and John Kemp. The rest of the team is: Paul Bradshaw, Graeme Clark, Colin Edwards, Ross Fisher, David Skinns, former Wearside player Richard Walker, and Gary Wolstenholme. Only four of the team - Clark, Skinns, Walker and Wolstenholme - were in the side that finished third behind winners Wales at Harlech a year ago.

Lockerbie, who won the England Under-18 title in 2000, was added to the England Elite Squad last winter, and has enjoyed a successful season with top-10 finishes in several of the major championships, culminating in his outstanding victory at Alwoodley.

Skelton's call comes after he was named in the Walker Cup squad for the match against the United States at Ganton two weeks prior to the Home Internationals. A former winner of the English Under-16 Championship, he played in the winning GB and Ireland Jacques Leglise team at Lausanne last year and was also a member of the Yorkshire sides that won the Boys' and Men's County Championships.

Last winter he won the Daily Telegraph Junior Championship at Sun City, South Africa after which he was named in the Elite Squad. This year, Skelton won the Henriques Salver for the best under 20 score while finishing tied ninth in the Brabazon Trophy, then went to Prestatyn to win the Welsh Stroke Play Championship.

Heath, 20, from Surrey, is another former Under-16 Champion and boy international. He was capped by GB and Ireland at boy level in 2001 and reached the semi-finals of the British Boys that same year at Ganton. Last year he finished runner-up in the European Amateur Championship in Portugal and won the Greek amateur title at Glyfada.